M'Baye Niang put in a man-of-the-match performance to help AC Milan to a 4-1 Serie A win over Sampdoria at San Siro on Saturday, scoring two and setting up one more.
Sinisa Mihajlovic's men were fortunate not to go 1-0 behind early on when Roberto Soriano failed to take advantage of Gianluigi Donnarumma's mistake.
It was all Milan from thereon, though, and Giacomo Bonaventura opened the scoring after a sublime assist from Niang.
The Frenchman then converted a spot-kick for his first Milan league goal, adding a second after the break following an error from Emiliano Viviano.
Luiz Adriano rubbed further salt in the visitors' wounds in the 78th minute, with Eder's last-gasp penalty offering scant consolation to Vincenzo Montella's men.
Alessio Cerci was denied by an offside flag in the ninth minute after tapping home the rebound from Carlos Bacca's powerful shot, but the home side did grab the lead soon after.
Milan doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Niang converted a penalty. Lorenzo De Silvestri pulled Bonaventura to the ground inside the area, leaving referee Daniele Doveri no other option but to award a spot-kick, and the 20-year-old confidently stepped up and found the net with a powerful attempt.
Niang nearly made it three shortly after the break with an acrobatic backheel after Cerci's free-kick, but Viviano did well to push the ball wide for a corner.
The Sampdoria goalkeeper handed Niang a gilt-edged chance to get his second goal of the game in the 49th minute with a sloppy goal kick and the in-form attacker happily accepted Viviano's present, making it 3-0 with a calm finish.
The former Shakhtar Donetsk did get his goal shortly after, though. He controlled Cerci's cross with his chest before firing in a volley from inside the area.
- M'Baye Niang scored his first two goals with for Milan in 36 Serie A appearances.
- Milan had10 shots in the first half – a record for the Rossoneri in Serie A this season.
